Saunders, Steve - Matthew Paul, Santhosh
Email Cup Semi-final EM/C/B010 (ICCF Email), 1999
Santhosh Matthew Paul

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 An anti-Gruenfeld line. Krammnik tried this and lost the game and match to Shirov in 1998, though he got quite a good position from the opening. d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 #

[8.f4 is the major alternative here.]

8...Nc6 Deviating from the aforementioned game, where Shirov played 8...e5. I decided to follow a recommendation in Adorjan's "Winning with the Grunfeld" instead. 9.O-O-O On

[9.d5 Ne5 10.Bg5 c6! 11.Rd1 cxd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.g4?! Bd7 14.d6 f6 15.Bh6 Bc6 "with a significant edge for Black", Alekhine-Bogoljubov, Bled 1931]

[9.Rd1 Rowson recommends f5!?]

9...e5 Rowson recommends

[9...f5!? # here instead, and it could well be Black's best move. Recent games bear this out. 10.h4 fxe4 11.h5 e5! Rowson]

10.d5 Nd4 11.f4 Rowson gives this move an exclamation mark. He also mentions 11.h4!?("relative ly unexplored") and 11. Nb5 !? as options for White.

[11.h4!?]

[11.Nb5!? Nxb5 12.Bxb5 Bd7 13.Be2 c6

(13...Qe7 ,disdaining the exchange of Queens 14.Kb1 Rfc8 15.Rc1 c5 16.h4 c4 17.h5 resulted in an exciting slugfest in Rowson-Sutovsky, Monarch Assurance 1999, that was drawn in 48 moves.)

14.dxc6 Bxc6 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.Nh3 and White's pieces are more actively placed, according to Rowson.Rowson-Sutovsk y was presumably played after Rowson's book was out.]

11...c5 12.fxe5 Bg4 13.Re1 Bxe5 14.h3 Qh4!? # Provocative, but hardly mindless: the idea is to hinder White's King-side development.. Rowson says 14. ..Qh4 !? is "very annoying for White, but very risky for Black". Adorjan credits this idea to Stean. After some investigation, I decided the position was playable for Black. This move reminded me of the same Queen sortie in the Scotch Opening.

[14...Bd7 is given as the main continuation by both Adorjan and Rowson.]

15.Bd3

[15.Bf2 was tried by Chris Ward against Beaumont in a 4NCL game at Birmingham in 1999. I don't think f2 is a good square for the Bishop, and the 2298 rated Beaumont had no difficulty drawing with the GM after Qh5 16.Kb1 Bg7! 17.Qf4 Bd7 18.Nf3 Rfe8 1/2-1/2, 27 moves.]

15...Rac8 16.Bg5 The idea is to cut off my Queen's retreat along the h4-d8. However, the pressure on the hotspot 'd4' is eased.

[16.Bxd4 cxd4 17.hxg4 Qxh1 18.Nf3 dxc3 19.bxc3 Rxc3+ 20.Bc2 Nc4 21.Qxc3 Qh6+ 22.g5 Bxc3 23.gxh6 Bxe1 does not work, but shows that hxg4 becomes a dangerous threat once the d4 Knight is eliminated.]

[16.Kb1 , getting the King away from the c file, looks natural. Golod-Vokarev, Anibal Linares Open 2001 went: Rfe8

(16...f5 This is cr itical, and after 17. Bg5 Qh4, we have transposed into a variation from my game against Saunders.)

17.Rf1 c4 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.hxg4 Qxh1 20.Nf3 Bxc3 21.bxc3 Qxf1+ 22.Bxf1 Rxe4 23.d6 and Black has insufficient compensation. White went on to win in 42 moves.]

16...Qh5 17.Kb1

[17.hxg4 fails to Qxh1 18.Nf3 Nxf3]

[17.Nb5 c4!

(17...Nxb5? 18.hxg4 Qxh1 19.Nf3 and though Black gets both Rooks in return for the Queen, White has more space and better minor pieces.)

18.Be2 Nxe2+ 19.Nxe2 Bxe2 20.Rxe2 c3 followed by 21...f5 gives Black a good game.]

17...Rfe8

[17...f5 is critica l, and could transpose into a variation from the Golod-Vokarev game cited earlier. The idea behind 17...Rfe8 is to attack the 'e4' pawn. 18.hxg4 Qxh1 19.exf5 Qh2 and matters are unclear, though I suspect what little clarity there is will be found in White's camp.]

18.Be3 He wants to move the Queen, which is tied down to the protection of the g5 Bishop.

[18.Nb5 The threat is to capture on d4 and then on g4, forcing me to part with my Queen in exchange for two rooks, a transaction that we saw earlier was unfavourable to Black. There is only one move to keep the game alive: h6! 19.Bxh6

(19.Be3 Bg3)

19...Bg3 20.Rf1 c4 21.Nxd4 cxd3 22.Qxd3

(22.Ngf3 Bxf3 23.Rxf3 Rxe4 24.Nf5 Bf4 25.Rxf4 gxf5 and again, Black is fine.)

22...Qxh6 23.Qxg3 Rxe4 is good for Black.]

[18.Rf1 The Queen can now land on f2 with an attack on f7, so Black will have to be careful about the capture on g4. He has to react immediately... c4 19.hxg4

(19.Be2 Nxe2 20.Ngxe2 Bxe2 21.Nxe2 c3 22.Nxc3 Nc4 23.Qc1 Nxb2 24.g4 Na4 # 25.Rf3 Nxc3+ 26.Rxc3 Rxc3 27.gxh5 (27.Qd2?? Rxh3 28.gxh5 Rxh1+ 29.Kc2 Rh2) 27...Rxc1+ 28.Rxc1)

19...Qxh1 20.Qf2

(20.Nf3 Nxf3 21.gxf3 Qh3)

20...f6

(20...cxd3 21.Qxf7+ Kh8 is a draw.)

21.Nf3 Qxf1+ 22.Bxf1 Nxf3 23.Bxf6 Nd2+ 24.Qxd2 Bxf6 and Black is better. His Bishop is an excellent piece, the central pawns are blockaded and the Rooks can operate on the 'f' file. The White Bishop is miserable.]

[18.Nge2 Bxe2 19.Bxe2

(19.Nxe2? c4 20.g4 (20.Nxd4 cxd3 21.g4 Nc4 22.gxh5 Nxd2+ 23.Bxd2 Bxd4 24.hxg6 hxg6) 20...Nf3 21.gxh5 Nxd2+ 22.Bxd2 cxd3)

19...Nxe2 20.Nxe2 f6 21.Bf4 Nc4 22.Qc2 b5 23.g4 Qh4 and Black is fine.]

18...f6 To get in ...g5 next, creating a shelter for the Queen on h6.

[18...f5]

19.Qf2

[19.Nge2 Bxe2 20.Nxe2 Qh4]

19...g5 20.h4 The alternative is

[20.Nge2 which leads to exchanges. Instead, White tries to open the h file at once.]

20...gxh4

[20...Bd7 intending to close the K-side with ...g4 next deserves attention.]

21.Rxh4 Qg6 # 22.Rf1

[22.Rh6 Clamping down on the 'h' pawn. Qg7 23.Rf1

(23.Nf3? Bxf3 24.gxf3 Bg3)

23...Nd7! 24.Nge2

(24.Nf3 c4 25.Bc2 Nxc2 26.Qxc2 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Nc5)

24...Nxe2 25.Nxe2 c4 26.Bc2 f5]

22...h5 Of course ! I felt comfortable now, with the King-side blockaded. 23.Nf3 The pressure on d4 reaches breaking point. Naturally, Black cannot capture on f3 because the g file will be opened and the f3 pawn will advancethreateningly. The next few moves are more or less forced. c4 24.Bxd4 cxd3 25.Bxe5 fxe5 26.Qd2 #

[26.Qg3 Nc4 27.Rfh1

(27.Rd1 Na3+ 28.Kc1 Qxe4 29.Rxh5 d2+! 30.Kxd2 Nc4+ 31.Kc1 Nxb2 32.Rdh1 Rxc3+ 33.Kxb2 Rc2+ 34.Ka1 Rxa2+)

27...Na3+ 28.Ka1 Nc2+]

26...Rxc3! 27.bxc3 I judged that Black had nothing to fear after:

[27.Qxc3 Qxe4 28.d6 Qd5 The Grunfeld objective has been achieved: destruction of the White pawn centre.]

27...Nc4 The square c4, a traditional Grunfeld stronghold, is occupied.

[27...Qxe4?? 28.Qg5+]

28.Qxd3 Qb6+ 29.Kc1 Qb2+ 30.Kd1 Qxg2 #An amazin g incursion. For those interested in geometrical motifs, the Black Queen has just described a rectangle in successivemoves! 31.Ke1

[31.Rxg4+ hxg4 32.Qxc4 gxf3 33.d6+ Kh8]

31...Qg3+ 32.Rf2 Rf8 33.Qxc4 Rxf3

[33...Bxf3 34.Rhh2 Bg4 35.d6+ Kh8 36.Kf1 Bh3+ 37.Ke2 Qxh2 38.Rxh2 Bf1+ 39.Ke3 Bxc4 40.Rxh5+ Kg7 41.Rxe5 Rf7 Black is ahead in material, but I doubt that he can make much headway. Note that the queening square of the 'a' pawn is black; the wrong colour.]

34.Rxg4+ hxg4 35.Qc8+ A thrilling battle.

1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 An anti-Gruenfeld line. Krammnik tried this and lost the game and match to Shirov in 1998, though he got quite a good position from the opening. d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Qd2 #
	[8.f4 is the major alternative here.]
8...Nc6 Deviating from the aforementioned game, where Shirov played 8...e5. I decided to follow a recommendation in Adorjan's "Winning with the Grunfeld" instead. 9.O-O-O On
	[9.d5 Ne5 10.Bg5 c6! 11.Rd1 cxd5 12.exd5 Bf5 13.g4?! Bd7 14.d6 f6 15.Bh6 Bc6 "with a significant edge for Black", Alekhine-Bogoljubov, Bled 1931]

	[9.Rd1 Rowson recommends f5!?]
9...e5 Rowson recommends
	[9...f5!? # here instead, and it could well be Black's best move. Recent games bear this out. 10.h4 fxe4 11.h5 e5! Rowson]
10.d5 Nd4 11.f4 Rowson gives this move an exclamation mark. He also mentions 11.h4!?("relative ly unexplored") and 11. Nb5 !? as options for White.
	[11.h4!?]

	[11.Nb5!? Nxb5 12.Bxb5 Bd7 13.Be2 c6
		(13...Qe7 ,disdaining the exchange of Queens 14.Kb1 Rfc8 15.Rc1 c5 16.h4 c4 17.h5 resulted in an exciting slugfest in Rowson-Sutovsky, Monarch Assurance 1999, that was drawn in 48 moves.)
	14.dxc6 Bxc6 15.Qxd8 Rfxd8 16.Nh3 and White's pieces are more actively placed, according to Rowson.Rowson-Sutovsk y was presumably played after Rowson's book was out.]
11...c5 12.fxe5 Bg4 13.Re1 Bxe5 14.h3 Qh4!? # Provocative, but hardly mindless: the idea is to hinder White's King-side development.. Rowson says 14. ..Qh4 !? is "very annoying for White, but very risky for Black". Adorjan credits this idea to Stean. After some investigation, I decided the position was playable for Black. This move reminded me of the same Queen sortie in the Scotch Opening.
	[14...Bd7 is given as the main continuation by both Adorjan and Rowson.]
15.Bd3
	[15.Bf2 was tried by Chris Ward against Beaumont in a 4NCL game at Birmingham in 1999. I don't think f2 is a good square for the Bishop, and the 2298 rated Beaumont had no difficulty drawing with the GM after Qh5 16.Kb1 Bg7! 17.Qf4 Bd7 18.Nf3 Rfe8 1/2-1/2, 27 moves.]
15...Rac8 16.Bg5 The idea is to cut off my Queen's retreat along the h4-d8. However, the pressure on the hotspot 'd4' is eased.
	[16.Bxd4 cxd4 17.hxg4 Qxh1 18.Nf3 dxc3 19.bxc3 Rxc3+ 20.Bc2 Nc4 21.Qxc3 Qh6+ 22.g5 Bxc3 23.gxh6 Bxe1 does not work, but shows that hxg4 becomes a dangerous threat once the d4 Knight is eliminated.]

	[16.Kb1 , getting the King away from the c file, looks natural. Golod-Vokarev, Anibal Linares Open 2001 went: Rfe8
		(16...f5 This is cr itical, and after 17. Bg5 Qh4, we have transposed into a variation from my game against Saunders.)
	17.Rf1 c4 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.hxg4 Qxh1 20.Nf3 Bxc3 21.bxc3 Qxf1+ 22.Bxf1 Rxe4 23.d6 and Black has insufficient compensation. White went on to win in 42 moves.]
16...Qh5 17.Kb1
	[17.hxg4 fails to Qxh1 18.Nf3 Nxf3]

	[17.Nb5 c4!
		(17...Nxb5? 18.hxg4 Qxh1 19.Nf3 and though Black gets both Rooks in return for the Queen, White has more space and better minor pieces.)
	18.Be2 Nxe2+ 19.Nxe2 Bxe2 20.Rxe2 c3 followed by 21...f5 gives Black a good game.]
17...Rfe8
	[17...f5 is critica l, and could transpose into a variation from the Golod-Vokarev game cited earlier. The idea behind 17...Rfe8 is to attack the 'e4' pawn. 18.hxg4 Qxh1 19.exf5 Qh2 and matters are unclear, though I suspect what little clarity there is will be found in White's camp.]
18.Be3 He wants to move the Queen, which is tied down to the protection of the g5 Bishop.
	[18.Nb5 The threat is to capture on d4 and then on g4, forcing me to part with my Queen in exchange for two rooks, a transaction that we saw earlier was unfavourable to Black. There is only one move to keep the game alive: h6! 19.Bxh6
		(19.Be3 Bg3)
	19...Bg3 20.Rf1 c4 21.Nxd4 cxd3 22.Qxd3
		(22.Ngf3 Bxf3 23.Rxf3 Rxe4 24.Nf5 Bf4 25.Rxf4 gxf5 and again, Black is fine.)
	22...Qxh6 23.Qxg3 Rxe4 is good for Black.]

	[18.Rf1 The Queen can now land on f2 with an attack on f7, so Black will have to be careful about the capture on g4. He has to react immediately... c4 19.hxg4
		(19.Be2 Nxe2 20.Ngxe2 Bxe2 21.Nxe2 c3 22.Nxc3 Nc4 23.Qc1 Nxb2 24.g4 Na4 # 25.Rf3 Nxc3+ 26.Rxc3 Rxc3 27.gxh5 (27.Qd2?? Rxh3 28.gxh5 Rxh1+ 29.Kc2 Rh2) 27...Rxc1+ 28.Rxc1)
	19...Qxh1 20.Qf2
		(20.Nf3 Nxf3 21.gxf3 Qh3)
	20...f6
		(20...cxd3 21.Qxf7+ Kh8 is a draw.)
	21.Nf3 Qxf1+ 22.Bxf1 Nxf3 23.Bxf6 Nd2+ 24.Qxd2 Bxf6 and Black is better. His Bishop is an excellent piece, the central pawns are blockaded and the Rooks can operate on the 'f' file. The White Bishop is miserable.]

	[18.Nge2 Bxe2 19.Bxe2
		(19.Nxe2? c4 20.g4 (20.Nxd4 cxd3 21.g4 Nc4 22.gxh5 Nxd2+ 23.Bxd2 Bxd4 24.hxg6 hxg6) 20...Nf3 21.gxh5 Nxd2+ 22.Bxd2 cxd3)
	19...Nxe2 20.Nxe2 f6 21.Bf4 Nc4 22.Qc2 b5 23.g4 Qh4 and Black is fine.]
18...f6 To get in ...g5 next, creating a shelter for the Queen on h6.
	[18...f5]
19.Qf2
	[19.Nge2 Bxe2 20.Nxe2 Qh4]
19...g5 20.h4 The alternative is
	[20.Nge2 which leads to exchanges. Instead, White tries to open the h file at once.]
20...gxh4
	[20...Bd7 intending to close the K-side with ...g4 next deserves attention.]
21.Rxh4 Qg6 # 22.Rf1
	[22.Rh6 Clamping down on the 'h' pawn. Qg7 23.Rf1
		(23.Nf3? Bxf3 24.gxf3 Bg3)
	23...Nd7! 24.Nge2
		(24.Nf3 c4 25.Bc2 Nxc2 26.Qxc2 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Nc5)
	24...Nxe2 25.Nxe2 c4 26.Bc2 f5]
22...h5 Of course ! I felt comfortable now, with the King-side blockaded. 23.Nf3 The pressure on d4 reaches breaking point. Naturally, Black cannot capture on f3 because the g file will be opened and the f3 pawn will advancethreateningly. The next few moves are more or less forced. c4 24.Bxd4 cxd3 25.Bxe5 fxe5 26.Qd2 #
	[26.Qg3 Nc4 27.Rfh1
		(27.Rd1 Na3+ 28.Kc1 Qxe4 29.Rxh5 d2+! 30.Kxd2 Nc4+ 31.Kc1 Nxb2 32.Rdh1 Rxc3+ 33.Kxb2 Rc2+ 34.Ka1 Rxa2+)
	27...Na3+ 28.Ka1 Nc2+]
26...Rxc3! 27.bxc3 I judged that Black had nothing to fear after:
	[27.Qxc3 Qxe4 28.d6 Qd5 The Grunfeld objective has been achieved: destruction of the White pawn centre.]
27...Nc4 The square c4, a traditional Grunfeld stronghold, is occupied.
	[27...Qxe4?? 28.Qg5+]
28.Qxd3 Qb6+ 29.Kc1 Qb2+ 30.Kd1 Qxg2 #An amazin g incursion. For those interested in geometrical motifs, the Black Queen has just described a rectangle in successivemoves! 31.Ke1
	[31.Rxg4+ hxg4 32.Qxc4 gxf3 33.d6+ Kh8]
31...Qg3+ 32.Rf2 Rf8 33.Qxc4 Rxf3
	[33...Bxf3 34.Rhh2 Bg4 35.d6+ Kh8 36.Kf1 Bh3+ 37.Ke2 Qxh2 38.Rxh2 Bf1+ 39.Ke3 Bxc4 40.Rxh5+ Kg7 41.Rxe5 Rf7 Black is ahead in material, but I doubt that he can make much headway. Note that the queening square of the 'a' pawn is black; the wrong colour.]
34.Rxg4+ hxg4 35.Qc8+ A thrilling battle. 1/2-1/2